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Officials grilled over school’s opening, roundabout funding

DOE apologizes, says it was never the intention to violate crossing condition

By Melissa Tanji 5 min read

KIHEI -- State Department of Education officials were put on the hot seat Thursday as state Land Use Commission members grilled the department over their attempts to open the new Kihei high school without fulfilling the commission's conditions, as well as their decision to provide $16 million to the new roundabout instead of the grade-separated crossing they'd been ordered to build.

During a nearly four-hour meeting at Kihei Community Center, DOE officials, including Superintendent Keith Hayashi, apologized over the process and the decisions made regarding Kulanihako'i High School, including the department's handling of a nearly 10-year-old LUC condition that a grade-separated crossing, such as an overpass or underpass, be built prior to the school's opening.

The crossing has never been constructed, but the DOE has pushed ahead, lining up a principal, hiring teachers and enrolling about 30 freshmen who are temporarily housed at Lokelani Intermediate, while the state Department of Transportation has almost completed a roundabout fronting the school mauka of Piilani Highway. Late last year, DOE sought a temporary certificate of occupancy from the county to open the school. Maui County Planning Director Michele McLean denied the application, as the LUC's condition had not been met.

The DOE has sought to amend the condition of the grade-separated crossing, but the LUC has denied those requests in previous years. Many community members have been adamant about having a grade-separated crossing, while others have expressed a willingness to have temporary measures such as shuttles bring students to campus.

Commissioner Lee Ohigashi of Maui, one of the most vocal members demanding answers from the DOE on Thursday, asked why officials decided to open the school "without resolving the issue of the prior orders?"

"The prior orders were clear -- you don't open the school ... until you meet those conditions," he said.

Ohigashi, who also serves as the second vice chairman, questioned if this was a way of creating a "hostage situation" with the commission, students and others stuck in the middle while waiting for the school to open.

He said DOE's moves have resulted in the students "being denied to attend the school."

Ohigashi also asked it if was a tactic to violate the law.

Hayashi said there was no intention to violate the condition or "to force anyone to open."

The decision to open and push forward was made before he was superintendent, said Hayashi, who was named interim superintendent in June 2021 and took the role of official superintendent on July 1 last year.

"Looking back I should have consulted perhaps with other individuals, and I apologize for that," Hayashi said.

He also apologized to the school and the community.

"It was never my or the department's intention to violate (the condition) or hold anyone hostage," Hayashi said.

"I believe it was an opportunity at that time to perhaps provide students the opportunity for Kulanihako'i," he explained of the push to open the school.

Ohigashi also questioned the $16 million that the DOE paid for the new roundabout on Piilani Highway, noting that in a past meeting, the DOT said it would foot the bill for the roundabout.

Deputy Superintendent Curt Otaguro said the funds were meant to expedite the building of the roundabout, otherwise the DOT would have to wait for a new legislative session for more funding. The DOE paid the funds to its contractor to perform the work, the DOT explained after the meeting.

"You fast-track the roundabout by using monies that could have been used to build an overpass?" Ohigashi asked, noting this caused another delay in opening the school.

"Yes," Otaguro said.

Both Otaguro and Hayashi said they are committed to transparency, communication and to making good with the commission and community. But some commissioners were still skeptical.

Otaguro said he echoes Hayashi's sentiments in that "we are committed to make good." He also acknowledged there have been misstatements and misunderstanding during the process.

"We are here before the commission sharing with you that although this is what happened in the past, moving forward, you do have our commitment for communication, collaboration and transparency," Otaguro said. "We will do all we can to work with you and the Kihei community so that we can open Kulanihako'i High School for the students."

Several students were in attendance Thursday and stood during a portion of public testimony.

No action was taken on the DOE's status report on the school Thursday.

But commissioners expressed urgency for the DOE to comply with the condition.

"We got to make this happen right," said Commissioner and First Vice Chairwoman Nancy Cabral, who has been on the panel for years and was there when the LUC denied the DOE's request to amend the condition.

She said that if it were a private business, officials would have already found a way to make the project work.

"We have a crisis, a crisis of our own doing," Chairman Dan Giovanni said. "I heard today, I think, a willingness to follow through, transparently, hopefully on an emergent situation."

He said that the "only workable solution is the permanent solution," meaning the overpass.

During the meeting, Otaguro said an overpass at Kulanihakoi had been selected from among the crossing alternatives presented to the community last year, including at an in-person open house at Lokelani Elementary School.

DOT Deputy Director for Highways Robin Shishido said the Piilani roundabout is expected to be completed on Feb. 24.

DOE officials said a contract will soon be awarded for the design of the overpass.

After the meeting, Hayashi said DOE officials will discuss the next steps and see how the overpass could be expedited. He estimated that normally an overpass would take five years to complete.

When the $120 million campus is finally opened, the DOE intends to add a grade each year, with the finished campus being designed for 1,600 students.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

*Note: This story contains a correction from a previous version.

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